


it only took a look / it only took a smile / it only took a kiss

by grapefruity



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: College AU, F/M, Mindless Fluff, and singing, fluff of the cotton candy variety to be painfully specific, modern AU kind of?, was not beta'd fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23871511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapefruity/pseuds/grapefruity
Summary: Charlie finds herself saved from the perils of sorority drama, schoolwork and being sent to her room when a bespectacled Prince Charming drops by (climbs up) her bedroom window with a piano duet.
Relationships: Alastor/Charlie Magne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 78





	it only took a look / it only took a smile / it only took a kiss

**Author's Note:**

> if y'all read my other fic Make Your Heaven on a Devil's Cape, you already know that I love. and I mean *love* big bad voodoo daddy. soooo.... if you guys didn't expect a songfic based on them, shame on you all. (just kidding, shame on me the most) 
> 
> though! before you come for me! this was actually just a thought I came up with when I tried to see these two in college together and Charlie obviously being a sorority girl that obviously doesn't fit in there and obviously gets herself kicked out because she's a trouble maker for the right reasons
> 
> Alastor does not have an excuse for his troublemaking, but he has an excuse to climb the wall to his girlfriend's bedroom after said kicking out ensues

_Tick, tock, tick, tock_

It’d been seventeen minutes. She’d been reading the same sentence for seventeen whole minutes and absorbed absolutely none of it. The ticking of her clock beside her mocked her with her lack of progress, leaving her with nothing else to do but continue to suffer with the relic of a book she had now buried her face in.

No phone, no computer, no distractions.

_Tick, tock, tick, tock_

Charlie was for the most part, a rather well performing student. Good grades, mostly in the good graces of her teachers and professors, and up until a week ago, in the running for president of her sorority. All promising things, until she lost it when Katie ‘Killjoy’ decided to shit all over her and test her patience until she snapped.

_Tick, tock, tick, tock_

Was it so bad that she wanted to funnel their charity funds into helping those in need? Building a club on campus that offered services for the impoverished and less fortunate – especially those from broken households? All her life Charlie had known she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Instead of denying that, she always wanted to use whatever privilege she had to help those who needed it. It wasn’t _her_ fault that Katie was a self-involved primadonna who believed what they really needed to use all that bake sale and car wash money on was a new pool and a penthouse. It wasn’t even her fault that everyone else seemed to agree with her.

But it was her fault, she supposed, that when Katie decided to make a total, unnecessarily _long,_ mockery of her at the breakfast table in front of everyone including the house mother, that she picked up the pitcher of cream and hurtled it at the blonde, coating her in the thick, goopey substance that destroyed the perm she had worked all morning on.

_Tick, tock, tick, tock_

She groaned into the stuffy yellow pages, slumping into her array of cushions and plush toys. Getting sent home wasn’t, she supposed, the worse punishment in the world, until her mother looked at her with such dismay and her father curtly dismissed her to her room to finish the rest of her summer homework without the luxuries of at least talking to her friends. Or her _boyfriend._ Or anyone!

The most she had for comfort was her little keyboard set up and the bookshelf full of her sociology readings from back before she went off for college. Some good all that idealism did her, landing her with her hands in another girl’s hair, pulling like she was a child in a sandbox fighting over a toy.

The worst part of it was replaying the scene at dinner, when she was meekly explaining the situation and getting more and more frustrated in her retelling only to be cut short by her dad slamming a hand on the table, causing the plates to jingle in fright.

“For _God’s_ sake Charlotte, I don’t know what I did to fill your head with such nonsense but you’re an _adult!_ Stop acting like you’re Mother Mary and trying to save everyone because no one, least of all _you_ can do that! Now grow up and put that money I funnel towards your education to actual use before I pull you out altogether and send you to the school, I originally wanted for you!”

She had felt so defeated, the food that she had stopped chewing losing all flavor and the journey up the stairs far more exhausting. Diving into her readings was the very last thing she wanted to do.

_Tick, tock, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap_

With the book still glamorously splayed across her face, she frowned a little from under those weighty pages. Was the battery dead in that analog clock already? She’d replaced it when she returned to her room, a layer of dust on it from disuse.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap_

Ugh, or worse yet she had left the back open enough for a fly to get in there and caught under the hand of the clock. Eugh, the thought of that was gross enough to cause her to cringe.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap_

Frustrated, she finally threw the book off of her face, sitting up to look at the clock which was working perfectly. Then what on Earth…?

Her eyes drifted across the room, trying to detect the annoying tapping noise that seemed to be growing louder and more frantic. Then she noticed the two eyes blinking at her from her window.

She yelped, not loud enough to draw attention from her father’s study or wherever it was in the house that her mother was, but enough to also startle whoever was peeking into her bedroom to nearly topple backwards before he gripped the ledge, waving a hand frantically at her.

Hesitantly, she grabbed the nearest blunt object, inching towards the bed as she clambered off it, cold sweat beading at her temples. Three feet away from it, she could make out the tufts of brown hair, a little more unkempt than she remembered, before she sighed a breath of relief.

Putting aside her hockey stick, she pushed up the window, peeking a head out with a stern look. “What is _wrong_ with you?” She hissed, offering her hand to the boy balanced precariously against the wooden fence where the creeper plants were budding. “You scared the bejeezus out of me!”

“Likewise, darling,” He grinned, though he didn’t look too happy to still be gripping for dear life to the edge of her window. “Now, could you let me in, or would you rather me perish in your apple garden?”

Still a little shocked by this unexpected visit, she wordless stuck her hands out to help him in, and in a matter of minutes including much huffing and puffing, the mess of their limbs landed in a heap on the (luckily) carpeted floor of her bedroom. “So, about that explanation?” Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, she looked up at him from where she was propped up on her elbows, giving him an unamused look.

Truth be told, it did kind of warm her heart just to see him, especially since she had been shipped back home with little to no words, aside from a letter she had sent to his dorm room before she was ferried off. And to see him here, it felt like perhaps she really was starting to lose her mind over the mundanities of Weber.

“Ah well,” He started, tapping her knee with his hand as he untangled himself from her, fixing the glasses that had landed crooked in their descent. “A little birdy told me that you had vanished off campus for the summer break! Now, that couldn’t do! What about our plans, our grand adventures, our romantic moonlit dinners by the lake?”

Despite her initial frustration – for what, she could no longer recall – she released a small laugh, pulling herself apart from him as well to sit cross legged in front of him. “Moonlit dinners? By the lake? Were you planning on serenading me while you were at it?”

He winked, shot her a finger gun, and straightened out his rumpled shirt, picking out the dead leaves and pollen that had stuck to him on his climb up. “You betcha! Don’t think I’d let you escape that easy. Now tell me, why have you been whisked off far, far away from me my love?”

He put a hand to her chin, tilting it up so that she couldn’t look away like she was already beginning to, forcing her to look into his concerned eyes. “It’s… nothing,” She half-heartedly assured him as she rubbed at her arm in shame. Repeating the story to her parents was enough to go through, she couldn’t risk the embarrassment of sharing her meltdown with Alastor.

“Charlie dear, we both know of the many strong suits you wear, lying is not amongst them,” He tapped her knee with the hand that was still on it, inching closer so he could take her hands in his. “Go on now, what’s the real reason,”

It was useless. Alastor had the ability to look right through her, and anyone for that matter, so she was left to sit there pouting at him and their hands before she recovered a semblance of dignity to explain the story. “I… may have taken my desire to help our cohort mates from broken families just a bit too far,” She finally heaved, some weight lifting from her chest. “And I might have gotten cream glued in Katie’s hair,”

There was a beat of silence or two, before he let out a hearty roar of laughter. It stunned her at first, causing her to look at him with big questioning eyes before it faltered slightly. Surely, he would tell her how silly she was, how stupid, not unlike the scolding she had received from her father–

“Oh! My how I wish you had told me sooner! Oh, the sheer absolute firepower you hold within you never fails to astound me!” He tapered off, still laughing, albeit quieter as he slapped his own knee this time in amusement. “Though, I wish you knew when to dial it back on what you’re passionate about Charlie. As silly as I believe your Castaway Club is, lacking in both manpower, resources and interested clubgoers,” _Now_ he was just rubbing the defeat in. “I never fail to admire how willing you are to fight for it! When the time is right, and it doesn’t eat a chunk out of _our_ time together, hm, _mon cher_?”

“I know– I mean not on the silliness of it all, I’ll prove you wrong one day you know,” She said, fixing him with a determined look which he gave her a lazy obligated nod to. “But, argh, I wish I hadn’t ruined this summer for us either,”

He rubbed small circles into the back of her hand, a wave of silence washing over them before he finally picked himself off the floor, taking her up with him. “Don’t be so bleak now. Have you set us a little off course? Perhaps,” He guided her by her hands to perch at the edge of the bed, before pressing a kiss to the knuckles of one of them. “But I’m sure we can find a way to make this work. We always have. And frankly, I’m a little offended at how dismissive you are of my efforts to take the trip from North Carolina all the way out to Baton Rouge, climb my way up your ridiculously steep _mansion_ and still make it out alive!”

“Ah, well, I did cry to the wind ‘ _Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo’,_ it was just serendipity that guided you here,” She giggled, squeezing her hands in his. “I _am_ in trouble with my parents though you know. I don’t know how long you plan on staying here but… I hope you’re not planning on going all the way back to Duke after this trip, are you?”

He shook his head at that, sidling closer to put an arm around her shoulder. “Nonsense! I’ve wasted more than enough time staring at empty land and the tops of trees as it is! I’m sure I can find a way to make myself handy, and if need be, I can always head back to New Orleans. I _do_ have a house there,”

“An empty one,” She sullenly pointed out, looking up at him from under those fluttery lashes that could melt his heart in an instant. And it did just that, his smile softening as he stroked at her cheek.

“Darling I’ve been alone far longer than you like to admit. I _am_ a man grown, or close enough to one. Now enough of that, I came here for the sole purpose of seeing you and I will not have you sully that with your sulkiness,” He pulled himself away, the contact being lost too soon leaving her feeling even more sulky than before. However, curiously, he perched himself at her keyboard, fiddling with the plug to make sure it was on before flexing his fingers and testing the volume of it.

“What are you doing?” She asked, scooting a little closer to watch as he fiddled this way and that with the peddles underneath her desk until he looked satisfied.

“Before we go on our midnight rendezvous– “

“Our what?”

“I was planning on setting the mood,” On cue, he flexed, cracked his knuckles in that painful creaking way he always did, and started off into a slow, familiar tune. “And perhaps on cheering you up. Remember this?”

Before she could respond, that lovely baritone of his made her sink into her mattress, feeling like she had just been drizzled in warm honey.

**_“It only took a kiss, to know this,_ **

**_Baby I’m in love with you,”_ **

****

She cast a look at the door, worrying at first that maybe her parents might hear the singing, but thankfully it seemed that it hadn’t attracted any footsteps towards her room.

**_“One look, is all it took,_ **

**_To say I do,_ **

**_And baby when you smile, I’d walk a mile,_ **

**_Just to be with you,_ **

**_For a chance, at that glance,_ **

**_That says, ‘me too’,”_ **

Distracted enough to look back at him, he met her glance with such adoration in his brown eyes that she couldn’t help but giddily grin back. Yeah, this was definitely better than sticking her nose in textbooks that went over her head.

**_“So, when it comes to those, other guys,_ **

**_This may come as no surprise,_ **

**_I don’t get jealous, I don’t worry,_ **

**_‘Cus I love you,”_ **

****

The last time they had sung this song together, it was because he had rudely interrupted her humming to the chords on the piano of the empty recreation building, languidly leaning against the doorway. Back then she saw him as nothing but trouble, and something of a pain in her ass from how involved in her affairs he often came just to needle her into annoyance. Now however, she was the one sliding into the seat beside him, carefully inching her hand towards the left end of the piano where he easily let her replace his hand with hers.

Picking up the rhythm, she continued along, carefully watching his fingers dance on the opposite side of the piano so they could keep pace before she let the words flow.

_“It only took a kiss, but what a kiss,_

_And baby I love you,_

_What a look, oh your look,_

_That says I do,_

_And baby I’d agree, I’d rather be, nowhere else but here, my dear,_

_There’s no place,_

_I feel so safe, than here with you,”_

Odd, that the words were so much what the situation had come to be between them, when back then his voice melding with hers seemed almost a competition. Looking back on it though, what was unspoken between them than had been as clear as daylight.

They proceeded with the next several bars, occasionally exchanging looks with one another of nostalgic pleasure and when he would sometimes bump her shoulder to see if it might distract her before she did so back. Several breathy laughs in between her bars and the snickering on his end did little to distract them from the song though.

“ ** _It only took a look, it only took a smile, it only took a kiss,”_** They finished together, Alastor dragging his digits across the rest of the keys, deliberately tripping his fingers across hers to complete the song before he tangled their fingers together. She looked up at him to beam contentedly at him, but the minute she had moved up her head he’d leaned forward, their lips pressing languidly together. She made a small squeak of surprise, but leaned into it, letting him push his hand through her hair before cupping the nape of her neck.

They stayed like that for a couple minutes at least, stealing kisses and touches from each other, the misery of the night just a few hours earlier vanishing completely from Charlie’s mind as it was replaced by the detailing in his sweater vest that she was pressing her hand to. Her mind felt fuzzy and warm, as did Alastor, who was moving away from her lips to pepper soft tender kisses along her cheeks and nose until he froze when a voice called out from down below.

_“Charlie?! That song was beautiful sweetheart, maybe you could play it for us after you’re done with your work darling!!”_

They stayed completely still, ears attentive in case Lillith ascended the stairs to drive her message across. Beats of silence passed until they both released a breath, Charlie’s forehead slumping onto Alastor’s shoulder.

“Um– sure thing mum!! I might have to practice it a bit and– who knows how long that might take!”

She felt the subtle shake of Alastor’s shoulder as he snickered at her response, earning him the weakest punch in the chest he’d ever felt.

“Maybe you should dash, you know, before they come up here and wonder where I sprouted a duet partner from,” She finally said glumly, reluctantly pulling her head off of him though their hands were still looped in one another’s.

“Nonsense,” He dismissed, putting an arm around her waist to pull her back towards him where he nudged his nose against hers. “You have time to _practice_ remember?”

Whatever response that she half-heartedly formed on the tip of her tongue was forgotten at the press of his lips to hers again, her concession obvious in the way she chased it, dragged him up while they were still liplocked and navigated her way to the door to lock it.

_Perhaps,_ getting sent to her room, wasn’t such a punishment after all.

**Author's Note:**

> the song here is 'It Only Took a Kiss' !! > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzT8lmH_kWc <
> 
> anyway this was just something i needed to write to get me out of my own academic slump lmao we stan self-indulgence.


End file.
